Not necessarily. The wind can re-cock the pilot chute by itself and give a normal deployment with just a few second delay. Or even collapsed, there might be enough drag to extract the bag and deploy the chute. Throw-out altitude determines how much time you have to wait to see if that will happen, starting with "none".

For those who don't get the magazine, I've attached the photo so you can see what we're talking about.

For the "fish eye lens" theory, look at the ground at the bottom and note the curvature at the horizon. That same curvature would then also occur at the top where the pilot chute is, causing it to look distorted.

As I said above, it may not be a problem/mal. If you've ever watched a pilot chute above a jumper, it dances around wildly in the burbal. A single snapshot of the pilot chute (still image) may have just captured the pilot chute as it was deflated, making it appear to be uncocked.

A single snapshot of the pilot chute (still image) may have just captured the pilot chute as it was deflated, making it appear to be uncocked.

This.

I've got over a dozen pics that makes it look like someone is having an uninflated drogue in tow, when it's just because I snapped them at the exact instant before they inflated. Here's one off the laptop.

I've had 2 collapsible PC's sit at full extension for a few seconds then catch air and take off. Enough of a pause to make me look over my shoulder to see what was going on. They were not ragged out, and happened a couple hundred jumps apart. Not sure what it was, but they were definetely cocked. Made for an interesting bottom end on the jumps though!

Until the bridle gets to full extension and creates a solid base for the PC to inflate from, it will most likely not have a round inflated look to it. The bridle in this picture is just short of full extension. The container is not open, I think you are looking at the jumpers left foot.